Caffeinated Coffee Corset!

Feeling dull and dreary on your Monday morning, looking for a pick-me-up to make you feel sassy and smart? Look no further! The Caffeinated Coffee Corset is the perfect ensemble to energize you into the super sassy lady that you are!

Made entirely from coffee filters and embellished coffee grounds, this corset is full loaded with your daily dose of caffeinated style!

Step 2: Protect the Dress Form!

Start by wrapping the dress form in saran wrap to protect it from getting wet! Secure it with masking tape to make sure it doesn't come undone.

Step 3: Draw the Outline of Your Corset

Using a sharpie, draw out the desired shape that you want for your corset, marking the lines on both the top and bottom of corset, as well as how far apart you want the gap at center back.

Step 4: Dye Those Coffee Filters!

Boil a pot of water and let coffee grounds steep in water for thirty minutes. Add lots and lots of coffee filters to the boiling coffee mix and let them simmer for an additional twenty to thirty minutes, depending on darkness that you desire.

The longer you soak them, the darker they get!

Once they're done soaking, lay filters out and let them dry completely.

Step 5: Get Messy and Mix Some Wallpaper Paste!

Mix wallpaper paste according to directions, starting with a small plastic bucket of water and slowly adding the powder and mixing with hands until a gelatinous texture is achieved. Warm water helps it mix and solidify faster.

NOTE: wallpaper paste is completely non-toxic and entirely safe to use with bare hands. Feel free to wear latex gloves if you don’t want to get your fingers all goopy!

Step 6: Form Your Corset Base!

Begin by covering each disk of dyed coffee filter with a layer of wallpaper paste and then applying it to the form. Continue to add more and more dyed filter all over the form within the design lines that you have drawn on with sharpie. Overlap them to make the structure stronger.

Repeat the process of applying dyed coffee filters to the form, layering on top of each other to get a very thick coating. Apply a minimum of five layers of filters to achieve a thick enough structure.

Allow filters to dry entirely on the form.

Tip: Using a fan on the wet structure greatly reduces the drying time.

Step 7: Cut Out Your Corset Shape!

After structure is thoroughly dry, remove from dress form with saran wrap still attached to interior of corset structure.

Following the lines you initially drew with sharpie on the inside, cut out along the top and bottom design lines.

Step 8: Grommet That Corset!

Apply grommets on either side of center back to make a closure.

Decide how many grommets you want your corset to have down the center back, and remember to make sure they’re evenly spaced out. Mark each hole with a dot, and cut each hole out with the hole punch.

Then, following the instructions on the grommet kit, insert and apply all of the grommets.

Step 9: Pattern Those Side Panels!

This next part requires some finagling and trial-and-error to figure out. Using the heavy paper, make a pattern for the side hip panels. This will include cutting and taping it to the form until you get the perfect shape, and then drawing out the shape that you want.

Feel free to freestyle with this and make is whatever shape you want! I was inspired by the style of Baroque panniers, but shape them however you see fit!

Step 10: Transfer Your Side Hip Pattern Into Cardboard!

After you’ve made the pattern, remove it from the form and trace two of them onto cardboard.

REMEMBER: since they’re going on opposite sides of the body you want to cut out two pieces that are mirror images of each other!

I used corrugated cardboard and removed the top layer of paper so that the corrugation was exposed. I put the corrugation face-down so it was a nice little detail to the underside of the corset.

Step 11: Apply Those Side Hips!

Now that the grommets are applied to the corse, put it back on the form and lace it up tight. This helps to keep it in place while we apply the tutu-esque side panels.

Using a hot glue gun, place a thin line of glue on the edge of the side-hip pattern and attach it to either hip.

Be careful to keep your lines of glue as neat as possible, we don’t want hot glue dribbles leaking out from underneath the corset!

Step 12: Make Lots of Filter Ruffles!

We have to make lots and lots of ruffles for the side panels. Start by taking un-dyed coffee filters and cutting out a hole from the center of the filter, removing everything that isn’t pleated.

Do this a bajillion times to build up a collection of ruffles!

Step 13: Ruffles Everywhere!

Now comes the ruffly fun part!

We’re going to start attaching layers of ruffles to the side hip panels, starting from the outer tip and working our way in. Starting at the very tip of the side hip panel, run a line of hot glue along the edge and place the ruffles along this line. Most likely, each ruffle won’t be long enough, so overlap them and make them blend together.

Continue this process, working your way inwards, continuing to apply a thin line of glue and placing the ruffles on top. Do this until you have covered the entire side hip panel. Repeat on the other side.

Step 14: Coffee Ground Lace!

As a finishing touch, let’s create a faux-lace detail around the top edge.

Taking a doily, place it along the top edge and, using it like a stencil, dab rubber cement into the holes. Quickly remove the doily and pour loose coffee grounds onto the glue.

Let dry and blow off the excess grounds. It should leave a nice, lace-like pattern. Repeat this process until the entire top is embellished with your coffee-lace.

Step 15: Et VOILA!

You now have a super-sassy, caffeinated coffee corset capable of pulling you out of your dull dreary day and energizing you into the super sassy lady that you are!

No, the layer of filters was built up thick enough that she was probable able to simply place the non-corrugated cardboard under the wrong side. It's most likely the type of cardboard you find under notepads; less than a millimeter thick, slightly flexible, but strong. Well that or something else.